New York Jets fans made their voices heard after the final whistle blew in the Week 18 contest versus the Buffalo Bills.
While the Jets season ended in Buffalo, there was one player in particular from that game that fans are hoping they haven’t seen the last of.
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Bring Him Back
The Jets have screwed up a lot of things over the years, evidenced by their current 11-year playoff drought, but nothing compares to their consistency at being inconsistent at kicker.
The Jet Press did a very nice job capturing it with this fantastic Spider-Man meme documenting all of the different kickers they have toyed with over the last seven-plus years.
Although it finally seems like they have found someone that can be here for the long term. Eddy Piniero was scooped off of the scrap heap after not kicking in the league since 2019 due to a groin injury back on December 6.
He went from irrelevance to superstardom with the Jets and has been reliable and incredibly effective since joining the green and white.
Eddy Pineiro’s streak of 5 consecutive games without a missed FG is the longest by a #Jets kicker since Jason Myers’ 5-game streak in Weeks 10-15 of 2018. (counting only games in which at least 1 FG was attempted)
This is a great stat from Michael Nania and harkens us back to the last good kicker the Jets had in Jason Myers, who interestingly enough was another scrap heap player right at the beginning of 2018. He was signed off of waivers and ended up having a ridiculous Pro Bowl year out of nowhere.
Maybe it doesn’t matter because Eddy Piñeiro is apparently Justin Tucker.
Right now Justin Tucker of the Baltimore Ravens is widely considered the best kicker in the NFL, although he might have some competition.
Pineiro time … and it’s good.
Give him a lifetime contract! #Jets
ESPN’s Rich Cimini is responsible for all the madness because back on December 12 he tweeted that the talented placekicker deserved a “lifetime contract” from Gang Green.
extend Eddy Piniero for life
Another Jets fan continued the trend at the end of the season by wishing the team would extend him for life.
Lifetime contract for Eddy P
All-in-all the talented 26-year-old went 8-for-8 in limited action this year for the Jets. A super encouraging sign is he did it from every distance imaginable (4-for-4 inside 40 yards) and (4-for-4 beyond 40 yards).
A Very Small Sample Size
There is no denying the success that Pineiro has had in a Gang Green uniform. He has been the clear answer to all the Jets’ problems and clearly, a large portion of the fan base wants him back.
While I’m not against that in any form or fashion, we must raise one red flag that is worth at the very least keeping in the back of your minds.
He has an incredibly small sample size to look at.
Eddy Pineiro certainly played his way into being the camp frontrunner at kicker next year but let’s be clear: 8/8 on FGs is way too small of a sample to just crown him (and he also had an XP blocked). Still need to add one quality competitor. But he looked good
That is an astute observation from Nania, but I’ll go a step further, his career is an incredibly small sample size.
He has two years of experience in the NFL: 2019 with the Chicago Bears and this past season with the Jets in 2021. That’s it.
Pineiro is 31-of-36 in his career which is good enough for an 86.1 percent conversion rate. He only has 21 games under his belt as a kicker at this level and that is scary.
It shouldn’t prevent the Jets from bringing him back by any means, but it should be stored away in the back of their minds as they consider the level of competition to bring in this summer.
There are a lot of signs indicating that the Jets have found a diamond in the rough here and it is very plausible he is the present and long-term answer at the position.
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Jets Fans Clamoring for Big Time Contract Extension for Key Cog